In short, this war is going to be determined by intelligence gathering and good spying. And by quick and dirty action in the aforementioned odd places. That means we really need James Bond now. 007 is the Single Combat Warrior of our modern psyche; when the chips are down, he's the guy we turn to.

Of course, the great sick joke of James Bond is that from 1953 through about 1987, Ian Fleming and EON Films made the Cold War fun.

Let's see now... a highly disciplined, well-trained, and intelligent group of criminals steal a nuclear weapon and try to bring it onto the Florida shoreline. Later on, they devise and come this close to launching a biological weapons campaign against most of the western world. A megalomaniac gets as far as actually getting a nuke into America's gold reserves. An amorally non-political scientific genius whiles away the hours knocking rockets out of the sky. A British agent has to turn a blind eye to Afghan narcotics traffic to retain the support of future terrorists to bag the bad guy du jour. Several guys with bad taste in clothes actively plot the end of the world. Another creepoid actually gets his nuke onto an American army base in Germany.

Etc., etc.

The term wasn't used much then, folks, but these cats were terrorists. These scenarios functioned as metaphors for the horror of Mutually Assured Destruction that hovered like a Damoclean sword over us all.

But otherwise, it was really cool and entertaining stuff!

So, there seems like there'll be plenty for James Bond to do in the coming decades. And with none of that dumb comedy stuff for filler; there won't be time for 007 to put on a gorilla suit during the next world war.

Other spies will be kept busy, as well. At this moment in time, the public can't seem to get enough of them. The last time we checked, The Bourne Identity, The Sum Of All Fears, xXx, and the latest Austin Powers flick have all crossed the $100 million dollar mark at the boxoffice. This fall, there's the I Spy movie which looks like big fun, and of course, a little art film the kids like to call Die Another Day to ratchet up the number of secret agent movies this year to six (seven, if you count Company Men, which, apparently, a lot of people didn't.) On television, there's "Alias" burning up the ratings books, and "The Agency" is doing OK too.

Bad times makes for good entertainment. That's an old showbiz axiom, but it's even more so for our own little chosen field of what we dig.

At any rate, here's our biggest issue yet. We open and close with two delightful and unusual behind-the-scenes looks at the world of James Bond. Q Branch editor James McMahon accompanied 007 author Raymond Benson in Japan as part of a research mission for "The Man With The Red Tattoo" (reviewed in this issue by Michael Reed.) James' reminiscences, titled From Nippon, With Love, details the events of that fortuitous trip. Tom Zielinski reports in London Calling from the Ian Fleming Foundation golf outing; his story is guaranteed to make you want to attend the next one.

And that ain't all: Jim Paul cooks up the crazy notion of a 1967 OHMSS starring Sean Connery, and supplies the poster artwork to boot. Barry King finishes his survey of 007 actors with a look at Pierce Brosnan. An old friend, Joe Stachler, lets us in on a little secret concerning the soundtrack album from Casino Royale. HMSS stalwart Bill Koening takes us on a tour of Spy Country, and Books editor Michael Reed takes us to task. Finally, we feature a tribute to the late Peter Hunt, a man to whom every James Bond fan owes a great debt of gratitude. Rob Cotton does the honors.

Ed Werner has been a friend of ours for decades. He's a passionate and knowledgeable fan and an astute collector of 007 memorabilia. He's joined the HMSS staff as a senior editor; his column, The Bond Market, premieres here with an overview of Ian Fleming First Editions. Welcome aboard, Ed!

Thanks again for sticking with us. It's our heartfelt desire to satisfy your..... no, actually it's for us mostly to have fun. It's our second most heartfelt desire to provide you with entertaining and stimulating reading. If you're a James Bond fan, then you're the kind of people we like; we hope you like what we're doing.

Let us know!

May angels and ministers of grace preserve you and yours during the coming difficult times. As long as we keep out of the John Ashcroft concentration camps, we'll put out a new HMSS on a little more regular basis to keep you entertained and intrigued.

Thanks again for hangin' with us, buds.

Best regards,

Paul Baack and Tom Zielinski
Publishers